updated 07:40 am EDT, Tue August 24, 2004

Real counters iTunes

Real Networks has sold , part of a one-year test program and likely be expanded to other campuses next year, offers a free Rhapsody subscription (normallly $10/month) to "30,000 Berkeley undergraduates through Oct. 31 and after that at a deep discount, Real said. In Minnesota, more than 50,000 students at four state university campuses can buy the service at reduced monthly rates or at even deeper discounts for three- or 12-month subscriptions, Real said."

re: refunds

rreal success

The real test will be to see how many songs get downloaded this week, since this was obviously a ploy to get people to try out their service. They are trying to get people to "switch." How many will, not much probably, it's just people flocking to a sale.

Not eating iTMS sales...

I'm pretty sure if you were to look at the statistics for all the other Windows Media Player compatible music services, you're going to see a huge dip in their sales - as all their regular customers jumped over to Real's site to take advantage of the savings.

Pretty lame way to get "numbers" though. I mean imagine if Apple dropped the price to .49 for say just one week. How many millions of songs would they sell?

deharmonizing real

as much as i wish apple would just break harmony with the next ipod release.. i don't believe it's ever going to happen since

1.) real may sue apple for breaking their "merchandise" (yes i know they aren't licensed to use it in the first place) or cry monopoly (kind of like what microsoft did with windows 3.1 by putting a checking routine in to make sure you were using microsoft dos and not work if any other vendor's dos was running)

and 2.) apple would get tons of calls about why their ipod can't play a song, and, less likely, people returning their ipods.

furthermore, people simply not update their ipod software if they knew that a certain version update breaks their song library..

On The Other Hand...

Real is going to have to cough up some $$$ for this little stunt though. The music industry NEVER agreed to sell their songs @ .49 each/$4.99 per album, so I'm expecting Real to take it up the *** and fork over the balance. Turning out to be a pricey little move for them.

Wrong Wrong Wrong

This guy says it all...

By Thomas Mucha, August 26, 2004

Real is waging a grassroots battle where there is no grass. Apple is not Microsoft (MSFT). There is no sense of outrage among consumers. While it's tempting to cast Steve Jobs as a scheming, egomaniacal villain, the fact is that most people love Apple and its hip products. And shameless price cutting, even if it's just a short-term sales promotion, feels like the last refuge of a failed marketing strategy. It does nothing to enhance the company's prickly brand image, something that Real needs to improve as digital music gradually moves into the mainstream. "At the end of the day, starting a price war is going to bite RealNetworks on the a**," Peacock predicts. "Why would you want to Wal-Mart (WMT) your brand?"